


Like We Promised

by violeinne



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violeinne/pseuds/violeinne
Summary: Roxas and Namine meet again on the beaches of Destiny Island.Set right before the final cutscene of Kingdom Hearts 3, an imagining of how Roxas and Namine's reunion might have gone.
Relationships: Naminé/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Like We Promised

The ocean was beautiful. 

Namine had never known something so beautiful could exist. The waters of the Destiny Islands washed up on the shore both blue and crystal clear, the color deepening as the ocean stretched out, endlessly it seemed, to meet the horizon. She had to shield her eyes from the sunlight that danced on the water in flashing steps, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the infinite beauty of it all. 

Sitting on the rocks facing the surf, she could feel the spray of the water as it washed up against the shore, and smell the brine that lay heavy on the air. She took a deep breath to feel it again. There had been nothing like this in Castle Oblivion. She couldn’t even imagine it. This was something she knew she couldn’t capture in a sketchbook, even if she tried a hundred times. 

When she had arrived at the Destiny Islands, Namine had hung back quietly, not knowing where she fit in. Everybody else was getting along so well. She watched Donald and Goofy bicker good-naturedly, Riku and Isa talking, Ventus playing with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. As her eyes moved across the beach, they fell on Roxas, sitting and laughing with Axel and Xion, all three of them smiling and talking animatedly. She watched Axel ruffle Roxas’ hair and wag his finger at something Xion had said while Roxas tried to push Axel away. There was a total self-assuredness in their actions, an unshakeable faith in the bond the three of them shared, that was obvious to anybody who looked at them. 

So Namine went to sit on the beach by herself.

The ocean was beautiful, she reminded herself, as the sun began to dip slowly towards the horizon. Unlike anything she had ever known before. A wind rustling through the trees lifted her hair off her neck momentarily, and she felt the ocean spray on her face once again. She couldn’t help shivering. The ocean was beautiful, but cold. 

“Hey.” A familiar voice, one she had thought she might never hear again, interrupted her reverie.

Namine looked up. It was Roxas. 

“Can I sit?”

Wordlessly, Namine nodded and moved over to make room for him. As he settled himself, she didn’t know where to look or what to say. It had been so long. Where were Axel and Xion? She didn’t dare turn her head to look for them. Instead she turned back to see Roxas looking steadily at her, sitting so close to her.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes–yes of course.” Her voice felt fragile and thin, unconvincing. “Won’t Axel and Xion be looking for you?”

“They went to get ice cream. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh. What about?” Every sentence felt dragged out of her, so awkward and stilted. She didn’t know why.

The question seemed to take him aback. “Well…nothing, I guess.” He hesitated for the first time. “I just wanted to see you.”

“I guess it has been a long time.” Memories of the digital Twilight Town flashed through her mind. Did those seven fake days even count? She could feel his eyes watching her, measuring her. She wondered if he felt the tension that hung between them like a shadow, or if that was only her.

“They told me they were going to bring you back, the same as me. I’m glad it worked.”

“So am I.” She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic, it just came out that way. Roxas chuckled sheepishly as if realizing his mistake. 

“I just meant I’m happy to see you again. Both of us with our own bodies, being our own people, finally.”

Embarrassed at sounding petulant, Namine averted her eyes. “I know. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just–everything’s so–” she faltered, her words stumbling over themselves. She wanted to tell him everything: how she could feel the warmth of his smile through Sora the day he returned to the Destiny Islands, how their promise to be together through Sora and Kairi had made her so happy, how Sora’s declaration that Roxas missed her had given her hope, even when she had been alone in The Final World. She wanted to say it all, but stopped short, not knowing if he would even care.

“Everything’s pretty different now.” Roxas finished the sentence for her. 

She turned to meet his gaze for the first time. His eyes were the same clear blue as the ocean, reflecting the late afternoon sunlight. There was no expectation or judgement in his eyes, only patience and understanding. He at least, knew what it was to lead such a confusing existence. She had to laugh a little, which made him raise his eyebrows.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing.” Namine exhaled and let her worries and her wishes dissolve into the sea foam; there would be time for them later. Instead she smiled at him, a pure, brilliant smile from the heart. “I’m happy to see you too, Roxas.”

They sat in silence for a few moments just watching the waves together before Namine spoke up. “You seem happy with your friends again.”

“Yeah. I still can’t believe it’s real sometimes. It’s what we always dreamed about–just the three of us, together.”

His words rang with the same confidence that had been evident in his face as he joked and laughed with Axel and Xion. Roxas knew that no matter what happened or where they were, he, Axel, and Xion, would always be with each other. It made Namine’s heart ache to hear it. She turned back towards the water to hide it. Although still not quite sunset, the first streaks of red were appearing and clouds were gathering low on the horizon, stained pink and orange and violet. The colors shimmered on the edge of the horizon, flowing against each other like the surface of an oil slick.

“It’s beautiful.” The words slipped out without meaning to. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Me neither. The sunsets at Twilight Town were always the same view. Beautiful, but the same. I guess the sunsets on every world are different.” Roxas turned to smile at her. “Funny how that seems so obvious, but I just realized it now.”

“I never knew how much beauty there was in the world,” said Namine quietly. She held a hand up to the sky, watching the light pass through the translucent edges of her fingers. “Just think of all the other sunsets out there that we’ll never see.” 

“We could go see them together.”

The sound of the waves echoed in her head as Roxas’ words sank in. Namine hadn’t known what would happen to her once she had a real body again. Existing for so long as nothing but a heart, she had accepted that it was her fate to remain in her in-between existence forever, fading back into the darkness when the time came. If she ever had a home it was Castle Oblivion, and Castle Oblivion was gone now. There simply wasn’t a place for her in this world, the Nobody that nobody ever knew what to do with.

But now…

“You’d want to do that with me?”

“Yeah.” Roxas touched her hand softly with his own.

“I missed you, Namine.”

“Ahem!” The sound of someone clearing their throat sounded loudly behind them, and both Roxas and Namine jumped. Turning, they saw Axel’s tall figure leaning down towards them with a grin on his face, Xion right behind him. Both of them held an ice cream bar in each hand. “Not to interrupt, but we’ve got a very important delivery. “ He handed Roxas a bar of blue sea salt ice cream. “And one for the lady, of course.” Xion handed Namine another ice cream with a smile. 

“Mind if we join you?” she asked.

Axel sat down heavily on Roxas’ other side while Xion settled herself next to Namine. As Namine took her first bite of ice cream and the salty but sweet flavor spread through her body, she suddenly realized that this was what happiness tasted like.

“Hey Roxas! Come and race with us.” Riku’s voice rang across the beach from where he stood with Terra, waving for Roxas to come over. Donald, Goofy, and the kids from Twilight Town had started building sand sculptures. Roxas hurriedly took the last bite of his ice cream and stood up, brushing sand off his pants.

“Guess I have to go put those two guys in their place. Be back in a minute!” A second later, Axel got up as well, mock grumbling as Ventus dragged him over to play frisbee.

Xion put her hand on Namine’s shoulder. “Do you want to see some of the shells I found on the beach here? They’re really pretty. I’ve never seen them anywhere else.” 

Namine smiled. “I’d love to.” As she stood up in the glow of the slowly setting sun, Namine looked out at the glittering ocean again. The taste of the sea salt ice cream still lingered on her tongue. Maybe somewhere on that infinite plane of possibility, there was a place for her after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first KH fanfiction and the first fanfic I've written in about two years.RokuNami is my favorite Kingdom Hearts ship and the one that I'm really hoping gets some kind of confirmation in a future game. I couldn't stand how little interaction they had in KH3 so I wrote this to get my own feelings out haha. If you liked it, please consider following me on tumblr or twitter, @violeinne. Thank you for reading!


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